


Unspoken

by Jaelijn



Series: Profound Bond Ficlets [8]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Episode Tag, Episode: s09e06 Heaven Can't Wait, Human Castiel, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-22
Updated: 2015-06-22
Packaged: 2018-04-05 16:24:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4186707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaelijn/pseuds/Jaelijn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Where to, Cas?" Dean asked him when he really should have been asking himself. "Please, don't leave," Cas says.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unspoken

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HollyBlue2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HollyBlue2/gifts).



> Written for Prompt 3 from [this list](http://alwaysbellamyblake.tumblr.com/post/111909165950/send-me-a-pairing-and-a-number-and-ill-write-you) on tumblr: “Please, don’t leave.”

“Dean.”

Dean stopped in his track to the car, not looking back but _knowing_ that Cas was standing just outside the revolving door of the hospital where they’d gotten his broken hand fixed, cradling the bandage and looking lost and forlorn, because somehow human-Castiel had the puppy dog eyes down pat.

“Please, don’t leave.” Cas’s voice was soft, almost ripped away by the breeze and the sound of late night traffic around the hospital.

Dean heard him, though, and froze, feeling heavy, unable to move even if he wanted to. He worked his jaw, trying to unjam his brain and come up with a reply. He couldn’t look at Cas. Couldn’t look back and see his expression and wonder if the thing they had – had had – maybe had, or could have had – broke for good when he told Cas he couldn’t stay. They hadn’t even had so much as a kiss. Just something – something that had been there for a long time, but that they had first acknowledge when they were sitting in a bar, waiting for a Cupid. When Cas was the one leaving. But there hadn’t been time, and then everything had gone to shit as it _always_ did in Dean’s godforsaken life, and now Cas was human, and Dean would never be so close to the angel again – ex-angel, now. But he couldn’t stay, he couldn’t risk bringing harm to Sam because the angel inside him had some paranoia about Cas attracting his siblings, and, would you look at that, he hadn’t been wrong.

Neither of them was moving – Dean could have sworn he could hear Cas breathing behind him, hitching a little on the exhale. Pain, perhaps, from his hand, though he had been given painkillers, or maybe something else, some emotion Dean wasn’t sure Castiel could even _understand_ or process.

Then, a couple rushed past them, forcing Cas to shuffle out of the way with a huffed “sorry”, and the moment was broken. Dean turned to watch the couple rush through the foyer, and found Cas was doing the same before his gaze flickered back to Dean’s. He looked tired and so sad and so lost but – god! – he was beautiful even in the unflattering hospital lights and the stiff white linen of his work shirt.

“Do you want to get breakfast, Cas?” Dean asked, a smile rising on his lips unbidden.

Cas let go of his bandaged hand, leaving them to dangle loosely by his side. “It’s the middle of the night.”

“Someplace will be open.”

Cas shook his head. “I’m not hungry.”

“C’mon, you have been living off Gas ‘n’ Sip food!” Dean pulled Cas in by the shoulder, because that was safe, was familiar, and steered him towards the car. “I’ll find you the best burger place in town.”

Out of the corner of his eyes, Dean saw a smile twitch over Cas’s lips, just for a split second. “Are burgers an acceptable breakfast food?”

“Hells yeah.”

Eventually, they ended up crashing in a motel room together, because it turned out that 3am was a little early for the town’s best burger place to be open, after all. Cas didn’t seem to mind that they were sharing a stale sandwich and a packet of chips from the vending machine down the corridor instead, sipping at coke that hadn’t been cooled properly. They didn’t talk much. Dean was watching Cas when he thought the other man wasn’t looking, watching and _wishing_ and forcing his hand to stay on his side of the table, never quite touching, even as Cas’s left ended up just inches away from his.

Cas was scowling down at his bandaged wrist. “This will be bothersome.”

“Yeah, broken bones are a pain in the ass.”

“Nora won’t be pleased.”

Dean chewed on a chip that wasn’t crunchy and swallowed it down. “Nah, you can work a register with one hand.”

“Working the register isn’t my only duty, Dean,” Cas said, scolding gently, as if his job was the most important thing in the universe. Maybe it was, for him. Dean felt like shit.

He swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly dry. “You should catch some sleep. You look beat, buddy.”

Cas met his gaze, holding it for a long time, before he glanced away and towards the twin beds. “Alright.” He got to his feet, then hesitated. “I have to open the store in the morning, though, and my alarm clock is still at the Gas ‘n’ Sip.”

 _Shit, he’s been sleeping there_. Dean pushed the remaining food away, appetite gone. Feeling sick. “Don’t worry, I’ll have you up in time.”

Cas’s head snapped up at that, and his next words, soft and hesitant, disbelieving, and _hopeful_ , broke Dean’s heart all over again. “You’ll still be there?”


End file.
